Split lid casket

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to a split lid casket in which a pair of lid sections include depending tongues for reception in an upwardly facing groove adapted to receive sealing compound in an uppermost peripheral edge of the casket, the upper peripheral edge also including gasket means for seating against sealing surfaces of the lid sections with the gasket means being inboard of the grooves and tongues, the lid sections having adjacent transverse edge portions of a stepped configuration, and one transverse edge portion having a groove and an additional gasket means for respectively receiving a tongue and seating against a sealing surface of the other transverse edge portion.

Jan. 1, 1974 United States Patent [191 Pitt Primary Examiner-Richard A.Gaudet Assistant Examiner-Henry J. Recla AltorneyDonald M. Wight et al.

[ SPLIT LID CASKET [75] Inventor: William V. Pitt, Waco, Tex.

[57] ABSTRACT This disclosure relates to a split lid casket in which a[22] Filed:

pair of lid sections include depending tongues for reception in anupwardly facing groove adapted to receive sealing compound in anuppermost peripheral edge of the casket, the upper peripheral edge alsoincluding gasket means for seating against sealing surfaces of the lidsections with the gasket means being inboard of the grooves and tongues,the lid sections having adjacent transverse edge portions of a steppedconfiguration, and one transverse edge portion having a groove and anadditional gasket means for respectively receiving a tongue and seatingagainst a sealing surface of the other transverse edge portion.

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A ORNEY SPLIT LID CASKET A primary object of this invention is toprovide a novel split lid casket in which a hermetic seal is achieved bya dual seal arrangement consisting of a groove adapted to receivesealing compound outboard of gasket means on an uppermost periphery ofthe casket, and the lid sections including sealing surfaces for thegasket means and depending tongues for receipt in the grooves of theperipheral edge.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel casket of thetype aforesaid wherein adjacent transverse edge portions of the lidsections likewise include interengageable tongues and grooves and gasketmeans for seating engagement against a sealing surface.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel sealingsystem of the type heretofore described wherein the adjacent transverseedge portions of the lid sections are of a stepped configuration, anddistal ends of the tongue of one of the lid sections being received inthe groove of the casket peripheral edge.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear,the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by referenceto the following detailed description, the appended claimed subjectmatter, and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a split lid casketconstructed in accordance with this invention, and illustrates one lidsection in its raised or open position having a depending tongue and asealing surface for respective receipt into and sealing engagement witha groove and gasket means of a periphery of the casket.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the encircled portion of FIG.1, and illustrates the manner in which a bridge or stepped portion ofthe split lid section isprovided with a groove and gasket means, and therelationship thereof in the closed position with the groove and gasketmeans of the casket peripheral edge.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken generally alongline 3-3 of FIG. 1 and illustrates a bridge or stepped portion of thehead lid section and :1 depending tongue and sealing surface thereof.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken generally along line 4--4 of FIG. I andillustrates the sealing relationship of the gasket means and sealingsurface and the tongue and groove of the casket periphery and the footlid section.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken generally along line S--5 of FIG. 1,and illustrates a depending tongue and a sealingsurface of the head lidsection.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken generally along line 6--6 ofFIG. 1 and illustrates the alignment of gasket means and a groove of thefoot lid section with the respective sealing surface and tongue of thehead lid section of FIG. 5.

The present invention is directed to a novel casket, generallydesignated by the reference numeral 10 in FIG. I, which includes a body11 defined by a pair of side walls 12, 13, an end wall 14, and anopposite end wall (not shown). The end and side walls terminate at anuppermost peripheral edge 15 formed as a flange 16 (FIG. 2) whichincludes a pair of grooves 17, 18. The grooves 17, 18 are in concentricrelationship to each other, and are ofa generally squared ovalconfigurationas viewed in top plan, as is most readily apparent from theleft-hand portion of the peripheral edge 15 illustrated in FIG. 1.Gasket means 19 in the form ofa sealing strip of rubber or similarsealing material is seated within the groove 18 while an organicthixotropic sealing material 20 is disposed in the groove 17.

The casket 10 includes a split lid generally designated by the referencenumeral 25 which includes a head lid section 26 and a foot lid section27. Both sections 26, 27 are secured to the upper periphery of the sidewall 12 by conventional hinges 28, 28.

The head lid section 26, as is best illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5,includes side walls 30, 31 and an end wall 32 defining a peripheral edge33 which overlies and mates with the peripheral edge 15 of the body 11when the head lid section is in its closed position. At the end of thehead lid section 26 opposite the wall 32 is a recessed face 34 ofagenerally shallow inverted U-shaped configuration. From the face 34projects a like contoured depending tongue 35 inboard of which is asealing surface 36. The tongue 35 extends not only along the face 34 butalong the peripheral edge 33 of the head lid section 26, as is bestillustrated in FIG. 1. Likewise, the surface 34 extends along theperipheral edge 33 to form a sealing surface for the underlying portionof the gasket 19 when the head lid section 26 is in its closed position.

The foot lid section 27 likewise includes side walls 40, 41 and an endwall (not shown) which form a peripheral edge 42 identical to theperipheral edge 33 of the head lid section 26. A tongue 43 depends fromthe peripheral edge 42 along both side walls 40, 41 and the end wall(not shown) and thus the tongue 43 matches in shape and positioning thatportion of the tongue 35 on the peripheral edge 33 of the head lidsection 26. Thus, the combined portions of the tongues along theperipheries 33, 42 of the head and foot sections 26, 27, respectively,define essentially a continuous tongue which is received in the groove17 atop the sealing compound 20 disposed therein. Thus a double sealeffect is achieved between the lid 25 in its closed position relative tothe entire peripheral edge 15 of the casket body 11.

A transverse double seal is also effected with the lid in its closedposition by providing the foot lid section 27 with a bridge or steppedtransverse edge portion 44 having an inverted shallow generally U-shapedsurface or step 45 (FIG. 6) and an inboard shoulder or step 46 of asimilar configuration which is provided with a like shaped groove 47receiving thixotropic sealing material 20. By viewing FIGS. 5 and 6simultaneously, it will be noted that the sealing face 36 is inalignment with gasket means 48 seated upon the surface 45 while theportion of the tongue 35 depending from the face 34 is in alignment withthe groove 47. Moreover, as is best illustrated in FIG. 2, respectiveopposite ends 50, 51 of the steps 45, 46 terminate contiguous therespective grooves 18, 17, while the gasket 48 is folded under thecontinues along the ends 50, as shown best in FIG. 4. Thus, upon theclosing of the lid 26 there is not only achieved sealing between thetongue 35 and the groove 47, along with its associated sealing material20, and between the sealing surface 36 and the gasket 48, butadditionally the underlying portion of the gasket 48 at the ends 50, 50effects'the seal with the gasket 19 and the distal ends or corners(unnumbered) of the tongue 35 also enter the groove 17 at the points atwhich the grooves 17, 47 intersect (FIG. 2). Thus, in the closedposition of the lid 25 there is not only a double seal about the entireperipheral edge of the casket 10, but a like double seal curves alongthe transverse inner section of the lid sections 26, 27.

From the foregoing the dual sealing affords the user the advantage thatif one sealing system should result in an unforeseen failure, there isthe assurance that the second sealing system will offer the protectionthat is desired. Moreover, the dual seal results in a permanent closureof the casket 10 in a short time after the lid has been closed becauseof the quick-setting characteristics of the sealing material 20.Moreover, by providing two sealing systems either individually to theexclusion of the other is available.

While preferred forms and arrangements of parts have been shown inillustrating the invention, it is to be clearly understood that variouschanges in details and arrangements of parts may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

l claim:

I. A casket comprising a body defined by a bottom wall and upstandingend and side walls, said upstanding end and side walls terminating at anupwardly facing peripheral edge, an upwardly opening groove formed insaid peripheral edge adapted for receiving sealing compound, gasketsmeans generally coextensive with said groove carried by said peripheraledge, a lid formed of at least two sections, each lid section beinghingeably joined to said body, each lid section having a dependenttongue for combinably seating in said groove and a sealing surface forcombinably seating against said gasket means in the closed position ofsaid lid sections, said lid sections having adjacent transverse edgesdisposed medially of said end walls, the transverse edge of one of saidlid sections having an upwardly opening groove adapted for receivingsealing compound, gasket means generally coextensive with saidlast-mentioned groove carried by said one transverse edge, thetransverse edge of the other of said lid sections having a dependenttongue for seating in said last-mentioned groove and a sealing surfacefor seating against said last-mentioned gasket means in the closedposition of said lid sections, said one transverse edge is of at least atwo-step configuration, and a transversely terminal one of said steps isbeneath a more inboard and next adjacent step.

2. The casket as defined in claim 1 wherein said one transverse edgeincludes a transversely extending terminal portion which is transverselyshorter than a more inboard transversely extending portion.

1. A casket comprising a body defined by a bottom wall and upstandingend and side walls, said upstanding end and side walls terminating at anupwardly facing peripheral edge, an upwardly opening groove formed insaid peripheral edge adapted for receiving sealing compound, gasketsmeans generally coextensive with said groove carried by said peripheraledge, a lid formed of at least two sections, each lid section beinghingeably joined to said body, each lid section having a dependenttongue for combinably seating in said groove and a sealing surface forcombinably seating against said gasket means in the closed position ofsaid lid sections, said lid sections having adjacent transverse edgesdisposed medially of said end walls, the transverse edge of one of saidlid sections having an upwardly opening groove adapted for receivingsealing compound, gasket means generally coextensive with saidlast-mentioned groove carried by said one transverse edge, thetransverse edge of the other of said lid sections having a dependenttongue for seating in said last-mentioned groove and a sealing surfacefor seating against said last-mentioned gasket means in the closedposition of said lid sections, said one transverse edge is of at least atwo-step configuration, and a transversely terminal one of said steps isbeneath a more inboard and next adjacent step.
 2. The casket as definedin claim 1 wherein said one transverse edge includes a transverselyextending terminal portion which is transversely shorter than a moreinboard transversely extending portion.